What is Weakness?
by Selene Starblade
Summary: You know that whole Weakness Moxibustion thing? What happens when it begins to spin out?
1. Prologue

What is Weakness? A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Selene Starblade.  
  
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The situations are some my own, some Takahashi-sama's. At least, so far.  
  
Prologue: Honest Weakness  
  
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Everyone knows how it went.  
  
In fact, it is apparently the favorite plotline of the writer, Rumiko Takahashi herself.  
  
The Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion / Hiryuu Shooten Ha.  
  
In canon, and many other versions, the pressure-point map is recovered from Happosai, intact or in shreds, and used to cure Ranma.  
  
In a select few histories, it is lost in some way. Most of these involve never finding the lost pieces, or Ranma not catching it when Happosai tosses it into the fire Kasumi has made.  
  
This is neither of those.  
  
In this universe, Happosai, acting on an impulse, does something that he is likely to regret many times over at a later date.  
  
It is unneccesary to recap the whole storyline, particularly since the manga AND anime have both been English-translated through this point.  
  
So, we'll start on a page, since the manga is more familiar to this particular writer.  
  
******  
  
Akane and Ukyoo looked on in shock at the rather badly mashed Ranma who was lying in the Tendoo yard in front of them. Happosai had just proved that he was indeed willing to directly fight the now-weakened Saotome heir, although his claim of going all out was obviously not realized.  
  
"Oh." Trailed off Akane, a mixture of surprise and unwillingness to show too much concern leaving her mostly motionless.  
  
"RANMA-HONEY!" Shouted Ukyoo, partially astonished that Ranma was still moving after that.  
  
Ranma, struggling to get up, groaned out a few words. "Won't. Give. Up.."  
  
An idea struck him.  
  
Immediately, he took a bucket of water from nowhere obvious and dumped it over himself, somehow also instantly changing into a Furinkan High girls' P.E. uniform, complete with tennis shoes and ankle-sox.  
  
Happosai, predictably, took the bait. "Woo Hoo!"  
  
Ranma half-grinned, half-grimaced at this. He fell for it. She thought, solidly gripping the handle of a large, wooden mallet. .again.  
  
She would have only one good shot at this- the mini-pervert was close in. She braced her legs and..  
  
Failed to move the mallet at all.  
  
If you didn't see that coming, kindly find something else to read.  
  
"WAHAHAHAHAH!" Laughed Happosai, fondling and groping like the leering little octopus he was. "Don't mind if I do!"  
  
Ranma twitched in shock and rage. "Nyaaaaargh!! Why, you-"  
  
She was cut off mid-punch by Happi's pipe-toss-trick, which flung her at the outer wall of the Tendo-ke.  
  
"Give it up, Ranma!" Shouted Happosai.  
  
With a heavy crashing sound, Ranma impacted the wall hard enough to leave a large, round crater.  
  
Happosai snorted. "Hmp. The once-great Ranma." He took a puff at his little pipe. "Now all you have left is your girlish charms! You're too weak to even fend off my hot little hands, much less get this!"  
  
The perverted martial artist brandished the chart as he hopped to the top of the wall. Something occurred to him, though.  
  
Every time someone had said Ranma couldn't, Ranma had, by getting better, stronger, or faster. And Happosai REALLY didn't want any more interference in his panty-raids..  
  
He had to make it so that Ranma really couldn't get the chart, no matter what. On the other hand, Ranma WAS nominally his student.  
  
Going with his gut for once, Happosai did something he rarely managed.  
  
He made a terrible mistake.  
  
"So, since you have no way to get ahold of this, I may as well stop dangling it out of reach!"  
  
So saying, the midgit master swiftly crumpled the pressure-point map up, and ate it.  
  
"Enjoy your life, WEAKLING! Nyahahahahah!" Shouted Happosai, slipping into perverted laughter as he bounded off over the rooftops in the direction of the local bathhouse.  
  
Ranma was thunderstruck. He. he really did it. there's. no way at all. arrh..  
  
Akane looked on nervously at the bloomer-clad currently-girl, who was crouching with her head down, her bangs obscuring her face. Ranma couldn't be. naah. He was probably just mad, right?  
  
"Don't sulk about it!" Exclaimed Akane, walking up to Ranma. "Cheer up!"  
  
whack.  
  
To Akane's total surprise, the 'pat' on the shoulder had launched Ranma facefirst into the ornamental stone lantern.  
  
A breeze blew by as Akane, Ukyoo, and Kasumi all watched Ranma remain motionless, practically embracing the stone, hands in the classic 'surprise/pain' posture.  
  
Eventually, Ranma stood up, and started to wobble away.  
  
"Um." Began Akane, tentatively, before deciding that this was not the time for that. "You fool! Snap out of it!"  
  
Ranma stopped, but didn't even turn to face the others.  
  
"Stop it.." Ranma muttered, in an utterly depressed tone of voice. "I don't want any pity."  
  
She stopped by the corner of the house, again without turning.  
  
"I'm. going for a walk. Don't wait up."  
  
The other three just stared. 


	2. Chapter 1

What is Weakness? A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Selene Starblade  
  
Disclaimer: uh.. Wait, wait.. I know it's around here somewhere.. How did that sock get there? Hold on.. Aha! No, wait, that's not it..  
  
Chapter one: Bad to Worse @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Hibiki Ryooga looked around.  
  
He was lost, and he admitted it.  
  
As to why he was lost..  
  
Well, he wasn't sure of that, and he admitted that as well. It seemed to happen rather a lot. Sometimes he got a sneaking suspicion that some sort of bad joke of cosmic proportions was being played on him, and other times he didn't think about it.  
  
After all, it wasn't like there was a whole heck of a lot he could do about it.  
  
Anyways, he was lost. Just like usual, he desperately wanted not to be lost, although the reason was a little different this time around.  
  
Normally, he would be trying to find the Tendoo-ke in the Fuurinkan district of Nerima. This was because he often was trying to figure out a way to tell Tendoo Akane how he felt about her, or just to spend time with her as P-chan. Occasionally, he would be trying to find the Tendoo-ke so that he could punish Ranma.  
  
He was trying to find the Tendoo-ke.  
  
Anyone finding out his purpose, however, would be sorely surprised- it was just a little unusual for him.  
  
He was trying to find Ranma to protect him.  
  
At this point, it is likely that the reader is either facefaulting or claiming loudly that such a thing is impossible.  
  
Well, poo on you.  
  
******  
  
Okay, let me see. According to this map, I'm somewhere in the Golden Gate park, and the Tendoo-ke is on University Avenue, so.  
  
Ryooga looked up from his map of San Francisco, and checked his bearings with what he thought was the Eiffel Tower on the horizon.  
  
Right. That way.  
  
So figuring, Hibiki Ryooga wandered in the general direction of Harajuku. As he walked, he thought to himself.  
  
Things just keep getting wierder all the time. I hope I find Ranma soon. That Moxibustion thing must be real- Ranma never would have gone flying after a little strike like that. Poor guy. I've gotta find him before any of the others do. I mean, really, picking on someone who can't defend himself? Even for Mousse, that's low.  
  
Ryooga took a right turn down a bicycle path, and turned to continue, now heading towards Juuban district.  
  
I wonder who the loon with the shears was. Oh well. Now, let's see, was it a left on Beverly Hills? I think so.  
  
The lost boy took a right turn down a highway, and began walking in the emergency lane, the wrong way.  
  
A few moments later, he looked around, and found a sign that read "Mount Fuji. Please do not climb."  
  
Ryooga sweatdropped.  
  
This could take a while.  
  
******  
  
Saotome Ranma looked around.  
  
She was lost.  
  
She looked around again, not quite believing it.  
  
"Where the heck am I now?"  
  
((Somewhere underneath Tokyo Disneyland, Ryooga sneezed and felt a sudden desire to bring a copyright lawsuit to court.))  
  
Ranma began to wonder if Ryooga was contagious.  
  
((Ryooga sneezed again and stepped, much to the owner's surprise, out of a toolshed somewhere in Asakusa.))  
  
Shaking it off, she tried to figure out how to get back to the Tendoo-ke. Walking past a lingerie store, she stopped for a moment and smacked her forehead with the heel of her palm.  
  
She knew she'd forgotten something. Looking down at herself, Ranma grumbled. She was wearing her Communist Chinese uniform. She. Ranma had gone back into the house to change clothes, and had forgotten to change forms at the same time.  
  
Oh well, no help for it at this point.  
  
Ranma took a random left turn, figuring that eventually, she would find a police officer or a map or something, so until then she might as well wander randomly, to increase her chances of running into such.  
  
As far as getting home was concerned.  
  
Ranma was in something of a bind. With the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion reducing her strength basically to nil, more was affected than just her strikes. She could no longer make her high jumps- likely the best she would be able to manage now was about five feet, maybe six in male form. She could still move as fast as ever, but with absolutely nothing behind the speed, as she was she really couldn't fight. Ranma only knew a few tricks that could be used with minimal strength, and only the trick she'd absorbed from Happosai, the one where you cause your opponent to toss himself up into the air, was of any use right now. She wasn't about to employ any of her father's distraction techniques, thank-you-very-much.  
  
Of course, Ukyoo was right. Ranma told herself, continuing to wander aimlessly. They won't want me to keep the dojo anymore. And I'm not about to let Kuno and Nabiki have at me when I can't do anything about it. The Amazons only wanted breeding material, which I'm not about to do, and besides, I'm no good as a fighter now.. And there's no way I'm going with Ukyoo. She may be my friend, but a life like that.. No way. And Akane's pretty well established how SHE feels about me, moxibustion or no. Hm. Come to think of it, the only person there who's likely to actually miss me myself, is Kasumi..  
  
Ranma stopped for a moment, then nodded to herself.  
  
Right. Pops and the engagements. that's it. I was getting really tired of the old lardball anyways. I guess it's leaving for me. I'll have to leave a note for Kasumi, but that's about it. I'll have to return in the night, and leave then too. Lucky thing Oyaji is a deep sleeper. I'm almost tempted to hide in the area and see how he deals with this mess he's made.. Nah, too risky.  
  
Halfway down what had seemed to be an empty alley, Ranma ran into something.  
  
******  
  
"Dinnertime!"  
  
As the collected Tendoo household (plus moocher) sat down at the dinner table, minus Kasumi, Souun looked around. Something was missing.  
  
"Say," Began Nabiki, "Where's Ranma-kun?"  
  
Akana frowned. "That baka! He said he was going for a walk, and he isn't back yet!"  
  
The two patriarchs blinked.  
  
"Say, Saotome, did he get the Master to undo that moxibustion yet?"  
  
Genma-panda sweatdropped. [Not that I know of, Tendoo.] He flipped the sign. [I'm sure he'll. persuade. the Master sooner or later.]  
  
Souun smiled. "Quite right Saotome. Why, I'll bet he's out trying to get the moxibustion chart from the Master even now!"  
  
The panda grinned stupidly. [Of course, Tendoo! He is my son, after all!]  
  
Souuns smile faded slightly. His friend was right, Ranma was Genma's son. Somehow the thought wasn't entirely reassuring.  
  
Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen door. "Ara. but didn't Grandfather Happosai destroy the chart?"  
  
Souun and Genma froze.  
  
Akane frowned at the room in general, refusing to even think of frowning at Kasumi. "Of course he did! You were there, oneechan!"  
  
Nabiki glanced from her father to the panda and back. Surprisingly, the two patriarchs hadn't even noticed that Kasumi hadn't brought the food out with her.  
  
[D-d-d-d-DESTROYED???????]  
  
"Saotome, do you know what this means?!"  
  
Genma began to look somewhat frightened. [Um. no?]  
  
Souun Tendo stood up from the table, surrounded by an aura of burning anger, eyes glowing red, the rest of him covered in shadows. "YOUR SON WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RUN A DOJO! HE IS WEAK FOR LIFE!!!!"  
  
Akane and Nabiki leaned out of the way, Kasumi kept her rather subdued smile, and Genma cowered.  
  
Then Souun burst into tears, and they relaxed slightly. "Waaaaah! Our legacies will never live on!"  
  
[And I'll never get to be supported by my son in my old age!]  
  
"And my daughter will be married to a weakling!"  
  
[And I'll have to pay for my food!]  
  
"And." Souun broke off and went over what Genma's last few signs said.  
  
[What?]  
  
"SA-OOO-TOOOO-MEEEEEEE! Are you implying that you only wanted to unite the schools so you would have somewhere to stay without paying anything?!?"  
  
[Um. no?]  
  
Souun growled.  
  
Nabiki sighed. "Give it up, uncle Saotome. Daddy's got you pegged."  
  
Akane looked over at Kasumi, who was still standing at the kitchen door. "Kasumi-oneechan, can we eat now?"  
  
Kasumi frowned. Well, not quite exactly. more like she looked slightly disapproving but still pleasant. No one had seen Kasumi actually frown in recent memory.  
  
Ignoring the sounds of her father visiting surprising amounts of pain upon his old friend, she looked at Akane. "But what about Ranma-kun? Shouldn't we wait for him to return?"  
  
Akane snorted. "That baka's probably at Ukyo's or the Nekohanten right now. He doesn't need to eat dinner here!"  
  
Kasumi brightened slightly. "Oh, that's right! Ranma-kun will be safe there too. Thank you for reminding me, imootochan."  
  
As she headed into the kitchen, Akane snorted. "No need to sound so happy about it, oneechan."  
  
Souun returned to his seat to wait for dinner, leaving a somewhat mangled panda where it lay by the other end of the table.  
  
******  
  
Ko Lon sat in the Nekohanten, on her own for once. She had a bowl of chicken ramen on the table in front of her, but she wasn't eating. Instead, she was thinking.  
  
I can't believe Happi would even use one of the weakness techniques on Ranma. Son-in-law is his student, after all.  
  
She thought back to when Mu Tsu had come in, blathering happily about his victory over Ranma.  
  
At least a day, and Ranma's still not strong again, or he would have bounced back and beaten Mu Tsu. That means it's not the Baby's Strength pressure point. And I'm sure Happi doesn't know about the Power Leech pills, and noone's seen the Devastating Feebleness Charm in almost a thousand years. That leaves only one thing- the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion.  
  
She sighed and started in on her ramen.  
  
I'll have to go find muko-dono tomorrow and offer my assistance. All I need to do is decide which technique to teach him.  
  
******  
  
Ryooga looked down from the top of Tookyoo Tower.  
  
"How on earth did I get way the heck up here? I was going downhill a moment ago.."  
  
After a few more minutes wandering, he finally made his way to the streets again, and also to a decision.  
  
Fine, then. I'll just wander around any direction until I get where I'm going. It's my best bet, really.  
  
If he had been paying attention to the weather, he would have been surprised- It looked like rain, but it wasn't raining. Normally the presence of a Juusenkyo-cursed person is generally enough to start any cloud raining, no matter how small and wispy.  
  
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So what's going on here?  
  
Wouldn't you like to know.  
  
Review! Review! Review!  
  
No comments here really, other than that I FINALLY have a page that my fanfictions are on aside from FF.net! It shows up on my author page, so go ahead and check it out, 'coz I've got fanart there too!  
  
Ja, ne! 


	3. Chapter 2

What is Weakness? A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Selene Starblade  
  
Disclaimer: Insert disclaimer here.  
  
Chapter Two: Lost and. Lost again. //////////////////////////WARNINGWARNINGWARNINGWARNINGWARNING/////////////// /////////////////////////// Attempted rape in this chapter. These sorts of things do happen in the world, and I'm not going to sugar-coat things, okay? I will have clearly marked the point where the fight degenerates into a beating and where the rape attempt ends. If you wish not to read that section, I will not be offended. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Ranma took a couple of steps back, looked up, and gulped. This was VERY Not Good.  
  
The large, hairy, heavily pierced punk leered down at the diminutive redhead. "Well, what have we here? Looks like a tasty little package we've caught here, boys!" He licked his lips, hands flexing.  
  
The four heavily pierced punks at one end of the alley laughed, while the three at the other end shuffled forward. They all wore identical leers, teeth bared in hideous parody of grins.  
  
Ranma looked around herself, and discovered, to her dismay, that 'Not Good' was a sorely inadequate expression.  
  
The quartet scooted forward, as the head punk reached out for her.  
  
Ranma reacted instantly, practically skimming to one side, out of the way of the stumbling grope. Automatically, she shifted into a low Kung Fu stance emphasizing speed and motion. She would have to try to. to. ::shudder:: run away. Something she had never been good at, much less liked.  
  
The flabby bald member of the trio watched Ranma with little piggy eyes. "She's a fast one, man! This is gonna be fun!" As he grinned wider, his mouth seemed to sink into his flabby cheeks. He stepped forwards with the other two in his group, the flab in his belly rolling his leather jacket disturbingly. As they passed a group of garbage cans, the three spread their formation, to fill the alleyway on that side.  
  
Ranma acquired a sense of creeping doom. Several shivers tried to go up her spine, met the ones coming down, and stopped, the impact causing a full- body tremor.  
  
One of the quartet, wielding a baseball bat, stepped forwards, as the other three spread out slightly to cover the gap. He stepped forwards.  
  
"Here, man, lemme give ya a hand!"  
  
The head punk nodded, making another lunge at the swift redhead, who dodged. Without even a moment's thought, she hopped over the swinging bat, lashing out and landing a foot in the face of its wielder.  
  
Spinning the rest of the way around she landed, and was struck in the back of the head with the bat, sent flying into the wall. Her forehead impacted the brick with a loud 'krak', and colors flashed through her vision as she fell to the ground. That had HURT.  
  
As Ranma staggered to her feet, one hand rubbing the back of her head, the bat-user guffawed.  
  
"Haw! She's fast, but that's it! She ain't got no kick!" He laughed again at his bad joke, mouth wide open. "Haw! Haw! Haw!"  
  
The hairy punk chuckled. "Even better. We're gonna have some fun tonight! Hahahaha!" He cracked his knuckles, watching the leader and the bat- wielder closing in on the unsteady redhead.  
  
Ranma brought herself up to a ready stance as the two sets of three punks closed in further, reducing the area between them to a ten-foot stretch of alley. She ignored the bit of blood on her left hand where she'd touched her head, and the thin trickle running down the back of her neck.  
  
"It'll take more than a bunch a' punks ta bring me down." She snarled, eyes flashing. Maybe she could frighten them off?  
  
The leader sneered. "Oh, so ya got some fight, do ya. I still say ya ain't gonna stop us!"  
  
Ignoring the distraction, Ranma ducked a swing of the bat, somersaulting backwards between the bald punk's legs, popping up into a standing position. To her intense disgust, one of the punks behind her immediately reached out to try and grope her, as she was in reach. She spun, dodging back, and caught the bat in the side of her head again. Staggering and clutching her head, she headed in what she hoped was an open direction, soon finding herself against a brick wall.  
  
She leaned on the wall with one hand, still clutching her head with the other, and cracked open her eyes to glare at the two approaching punks. It was definitely time to get out of here. Her instincts for head-on fights weren't right for someone with no straight-out power. She was just getting creamed. The fact that one of her opponents was using a heavy iron bat wasn't helping.  
  
The two punks closed in towards her from either side, charging at her with bat and fist ready.  
  
Dashing past the two approaching, she headed for the opposite wall of the alley. Just before reaching it, she started to turn, intending to use the wall to run sideways over the head of the nearest punk.  
  
It would have worked just fine if she hadn't slipped on a piece of garbage and slammed bodily into the wall of the alley. Stumbling back and cursing, she maneuvered out of grope range of the guy with the green mohawk, turning to face the leader and the bald guy with the bat. Her right arm hurt, it felt like she'd twisted her ankle, and her head gave her the impression it had been caught in a vise.  
  
The bald punk snorted. "Not bad. She's still goin'."  
  
The leader leered again. "Great. We can have a lot of fun with 'er before she stops bein' any good."  
  
The punks blocking the alley arced around behind the leader and bat- wielder, closing onna-Ranma off in a semicircle against one wall of the alley. They all began to chuckle, off-key with each other, producing a disturbing echo-effect.  
  
In a last-ditch effort, Ranma launched herself at the leader, landing punches and kicks to all of his vital areas in a constant whirlwind of motion. While the blows themselves were having little effect, her sheer speed was making it difficult for the leader to hit her, as his unfailingly dodged blows attested.  
  
Ranma was wearing out, however, and she knew it. The twinge in one ankle wasn't good, either- she had twisted it after all when she slammed into the wall that last time. After maybe a minute, the leader finally managed to strike her in the side with a wild swing.  
  
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((BREAK OFF HERE)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))  
  
Ranma staggered back, limping slightly, breathing heavily, and drenched in her own sweat. The punks stared and drooled at her heaving chest..  
  
Not for the first time, Ranma wondered why her cursed form had to be so. healthy.  
  
The arc closed gradually, the leader heading straight for her. Ranma backed away, until she found she couldn't anymore- her back was to the wall. Her pupils shrank as the reality of the situation began to sink in.  
  
As the gang leader stepped up to her, Ranma's innate instinct to flee and her heavily ingrained fighting instinct went to war.  
  
The upshot of this was that, when he reached out and held her chin with his thumb and forefinger, all she could do was remain stock-still.  
  
He chuckled evilly. "You're mine now, bitch. And there ain't nothing you can do about it."  
  
He reached forward and grabbed her breast with the other hand, mashing the soft flesh. "You got too much spirit. I'm gonna hafta break it."  
  
And with that, the hand that had been holding Ranma's chin pulled back and slammed into the side of her face, sending her sprawling.  
  
A thin trickle of blood running from the right side of her mouth, Ranma got to her hands and knees.  
  
The instinct to flee won out, and she staggered to her feet again, calling on her body to go beyond its own limits. Careening forwards, she tried to dive between two of the punks, only to be caught in the chin by a vicious clothesline. She sprawled backwards into a garbage can, slamming her head into it hard enough to leave an impression. Groaning, she rolled over, and began trying desperately to crawl away from the gang leader, only to find herself face to knee with one of the other punks. The punk pulled back and kicked her, driving his foot into her stomach and sending the small redhead flying back, to land on her back out near the gang leader again.  
  
The leader crouched over the coughing redhead, and reached one hand out to caress the side of her face.  
  
"Now, dolly, there's two ways we can do this. You can let us do what we want, and we'll let ya live- where we can keep ya, of course- or, we can beat ya inta it."  
  
"Bite me." Ranma spat out between coughs, then began choking as the leader clamped his hand around her throat, lifting her off the ground.  
  
"Bad choice." He snarled, as she scrabbled ineffectively at his fingers. Hauling back, he swung her around, slamming her back into the wall. Unable to make a sound with her air cut off, Ranma simply continued to choke until he let go.  
  
She slumped down against the wall, gasping for air as the leader watched. "I don't think ya get it. You're mine. You're gonna do as I say. I c'n be pretty reasonable if ya do what I want." He punctuated the sentence by kicking her in the gut again.  
  
Ranma retaliated by evacuating her lunch on his boot. For this body, the limits to the damage she could take were a lot lower, and the blows to her head had already left her nauseous.  
  
The leader glared at her as he shook the vomit off of his boot. "Boys, soften 'er up. I gotta go clean off my Martens."  
  
Two of the punks grabbed Ranma by the arms, using them to pin her against the wall, while a third stepped up, cracking his knuckles.  
  
Ranma's world exploded in pain as the third punk pummeled her, driving his brass-knuckled fists into her belly and occasionally punching her legs as well. Before too long, she was spitting up blood with each blow to her badly bruised abdomen. Her vision began to swim, and just as she thought her body was about to give out and slip into unconsciousness, the beating stopped. The first two punks let go of her arms and she slumped to the ground again, falling over on her side, clutching her abused stomach.  
  
She groaned in agony. Something inside had given way, she was sure there was internal bleeding. She needed. the word escaped her dizzy mind. For a few moments, she was allowed rest.  
  
Things began to seem slightly clearer, and she started crawling to get away again. Then there was a heavy and her ankle broke.  
  
Ranma finally cried out in pain as the punk ground his booted foot down on her ankle, pinning her in place.  
  
"Big man don't like it when 'is girl tries to get away."  
  
Said punk stepped back up to the group again, his boots wet from cleaning. "Good, ya kept 'er busy."  
  
The boot lifted off Ranma's ankle, but she just lay there in pain and exhaustion. The head punk crouched down and flipped her over, then leered again. "An' ya didn't mess up her face, either. Good, boys. I think I'll let ya all have a shot at 'er after I'm done. Now, make sure we ain't bothered, kay?"  
  
The other punks nodded and headed to the ends of the alley to watch for intruders.  
  
The gang leader rubbed the side of Ranma's face with one hand. "Now, my name's Big. Got that? You call me 'master'. Now, let's see what ya got ta offer me, huh?"  
  
With that, he ripped open Ranma's shirt, the semi-conscious redhead failing to respond.  
  
"Whoa, mamma! I was sure those were fake. I like ya, Red. I like ya. No bra, even. Yer real nice ta master, ain'tcha?"  
  
Ranma whimpered as he mauled her left breast with one hand, cruelly twisting the soft orb, while yanking her pants and boxers off.  
  
"Heh. Nach'ral hair, too. We're gonna have a lot of fun together, you and URK"  
  
Beaten, semi-conscious, and mostly nude, Ranma stared up through blurry vision at a familiar face.  
  
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((START AGAIN HERE)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))  
  
******  
  
Ryooga was still lost when he heard a scream of pain. Before it died down, he whirled and headed in that direction.  
  
He was a martial artist, it was his duty to help those in need. Many would- be muggers and robbers had a great fear of umbrella-wielding fighters.  
  
Besides, that voice had sounded somewhat familiar.  
  
Within moments, he found himself at the entry to an alley. Three leather- clad punks, all larger than himself, were blocking off the alley.  
  
Ryooga glared at them. "Let me through."  
  
The fattest one snorted. "Or what? You'll protect us from the rain with yer little parasol?"  
  
All three of the other punks began to laugh.  
  
None of them finished their laugh. Nor would they for quite some time. Being run over by a Hibiki was rather akin to being mowed down by a Mack truck.  
  
******  
  
Ryooga reached the middle of the alley just in time to see a badly beaten redhead being stripped by a fifth punk.  
  
Hold the phone, said his mind, redhead???  
  
With a single swing of his battle umbrella, the head punk found himself pasted, almost smeared, on the opposite wall of the alley. With a soft groan, he fell away from the wall, unconscious even before his head hit the concrete.  
  
Crouching down and focusing hard on the fact that this was Ranma, Ryooga managed to not suffer a nosebleed as he pulled Ranma's pants and shirt carefully back into place. Just as he stood up, a fist impacted the back of his head, to what (to the punk) was surprisingly little effect. Well, aside from the punk's hand breaking. The remaining three backed off slowly. The boy hadn't even seemed to notice the attack.  
  
The attacker screamed in pain, clutching at his now-useless right hand. That had been like punching concrete. He groaned then, curling his other arm about his injury.  
  
Ryooga turned to the three punks standing in awe, and the fourth clutching his broken hand.  
  
To the three actually looking at him, he seemed to take on a faintly blue cast.  
  
"DIE."  
  
There was no argument. But there WAS plenty of screaming.  
  
******  
  
Ryooga looked around at all of the trees. At least they weren't near the alley and the comatose, silent company within it, though where exactly they WERE, he wasn't sure of. Then again, that was a state he was used to.  
  
The leader would, of course, be the worst off. When he woke up, that is. IF he woke up.  
  
Despite all his bellowing, Ryooga knew he wouldn't ever actually kill someone. He may have been into eye-for-an-eye, but honor didn't allow for murder.  
  
Crippling, however, was fair game.  
  
Eventually coming to a place clear enough for a campsite, Ryoga laid the unconscious, female Ranma down, and began searching the surrounding trees for suitable stuff to make a splint. Ranma was going to need it.  
  
**************************************************************************** **********  
  
Yep, this thing's back. I hope you don't mind.  
  
Wait, what am I saying? If you did, you just wouldn't read it, anyways.  
  
Ah, well. Anyways, it's back, and it's here to stay. I'm working on all of this stuff at once, so expect progress to be fairly slow, if consistent.  
  
As to the person who commented on Ryooga's initial response to this whole thing last time I had this up, yeah, I agree that it seems more like Ryooga this way. Thanks for the comment. 


	4. Chapter 3

What is Weakness? A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Selene Starblade  
  
Disclaimer: The characters in this work of fiction do not belong to me. At least so far. Matter of fact, the whole idea off which this fic is based doesn't belong to me. And the computer's a loaner. And, technically, the bank owns my home. But, that's besides the point.  
  
Chapter Three: No Thanks, but Thanks.  
  
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It was wet.  
  
This was rather disturbing to Ranma.  
  
She (given the temperature she felt, that ought to be right.) had actually been rather enjoying the senseless darkness that she had been experiencing.  
  
And now it had to get all cold and wet. She made a mental note, not for the first time, that she hated rain.  
  
And little old ladle ladies, and koi ponds, and adversaries with buckets and kettles, and.  
  
Actually, she was beginning to get just a bit upset with water in general.  
  
Ranma's train of thought was interrupted by a dull blade of pain.  
  
Hm. She thought. Seems to be my ankle. Hurting quite a bit. Feels kinda like it's pinned. Let's see..  
  
Ranma let out a strangled noise as she discovered that moving her ankle hurt more.  
  
Okay, bad idea. Alright, Ranma, let's see. Take stock of things before trying to do anything.  
  
Rain, check. Female, check. Moxibustion weakness, check. Thugs. thugs?  
  
Cautiously, Ranma opened one eye. Discovering that this did not hurt like moving her ankle, she opened the other one, and looked around a bit. She was lying on something of cloth, which was just starting to get seriously wet itself. There was grass, and bushes, and lots of.  
  
"Trees?"  
  
The small black piglet that had been dragging what looked like a bamboo umbrella towards her let go of the handle. It whipped its head around to look at her and grunted excitedly.  
  
"Kwee! Buwee bwee kwee!"  
  
Ranma blinked. "Ryooga? Th' heck 're you doin' here? 'N where IS here, anyway?"  
  
Ryooga-buta gave Ranma a sardonic expression. (How a pig could do that was beyond Ranma to explain, but she just sort of knew it was.)  
  
Ranma looked sheepish. "Oh, right. You wouldn't know."  
  
The piglet snorted and returned to dragging the umbrella towards Ranma.  
  
"Yawanna hand with that?"  
  
The piglet glanced pointedly at onna-Ranma.  
  
"Okay, then, if you're gonna be like that about it."  
  
Ranma sat up, winced, and held her stomach.  
  
"Owwww. dammit. Those thugs worked me over pretty good." Fortunately, she could feel that whatever had been bleeding had stopped. It was too bad it was Ryooga who was around, or she might have been able to go to a hospital or something.  
  
"Bwmmph kwmph." Mumbled Ryooga-buta through an umbrella-handle. It was no more heavy now than it was when he was human, but there was only so much he could do to offset leverage problems. Now, he just had to roll THIS way.  
  
With some effort, though Ranma would have been completely baffled as to explaining how he managed it, Ryooga not only opened the umbrella but set it up leaning on the ground, with the spread part pointing into the rain.  
  
Now sheltered some from the water, Ranma lay back onto the tough material of the umbrella. Ryooga trotted into the sheltered area. His backpack was waterproof- it could stand the soaking.  
  
Ranma let out a long breath. "I guess you got rid of those goons?"  
  
"Kwee! Bwee bwee bwi bu-WEE!" Replied the damp piglet. A gleam of hate manifested in his eyes for a moment. "Buqii kwi BWI!" He puffed himself up self-importantly.  
  
Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, man. I dunno what woulda happened without ya."  
  
The piglet looked smug, a difficult thing to do when you're wet and shivering.  
  
"Hey, you cold er something?"  
  
Ryooga looked at Ranma like the girl-pro-tem was dumb.  
  
"Right, right, stupid question. Here." Ranma reached over and, not without effort, picked up the pig.  
  
"Bwee! Bwii KWEE!"  
  
Ranma just LOOKED at Ryooga. "C'n you think of a better way to save body heat? I'm gettin' cold too, here."  
  
Reluctantly, Ryooga stopped squirming and let Ranma place him in her lap. Before too long, the aquatranssexual martial artist had fallen asleep to the soft drumming of rain, one arm lying across the eternally lost piglet in her lap.  
  
Ryooga watched the rain a while before giving in and also dozing off.  
  
******  
  
Kasumi looked out the sliding doors at the rain. "Oh, my. I hope Ranma's alright."  
  
Akane, sitting across from her, snorted. "He probably shacked up with one of his hussies."  
  
Kasumi smiled again. "Oh, that's right! Xian Pu-chan or Ukyoo-chan will surely care for him."  
  
Genma laughed. "That's my son! A real survivor! Isn't that right, Ten.. do.. kun?"  
  
Souun gave Genma the precursory glare to a Demon Head.  
  
"Are you saying it's alright if your son stays with one of those other girls and not his fiancee????"  
  
Genma sweated and cowered some. "Well, uh, Tendoo-kun, um, it's got to be, uh, better than having him stay out on the, uh, street all night, right?"  
  
Souun refused to let up. "And when he returns??"  
  
"I'll, um, punish him for being unfaithful to his fiancee?" Genma whined. Kami-sama, but his friend was scary when he got like that.  
  
The shadow passed from the face of the Tendoo patriarch. "Good to hear that, Saotome. For a moment there, I almost thought you were still trying to freeload off of everyone, like back when the Master was training us."  
  
Nabiki looked pointedly at Genma, who continued to sweat heavily.  
  
******  
  
"So, that's it?" Asked Ryooga. "You're leaving Nerima?"  
  
Ranma, once again male, and across the campfire, nodded, still staring at the small pot of stew over the fire.  
  
"And Akane?"  
  
"What about her? I told ya, she don't like me at all."  
  
"So, you're giving up?"  
  
Ranma nodded.  
  
"At last! I can court Akane!" Ryooga stood in a triumphant pose. "True love shall succeed!"  
  
"Ryooga."  
  
"I can see it now!"  
  
Scene: a flowery field.  
  
Imaginary Ryooga: Akane, Ranma has chosen to forfeit any claim to you! Will you be mine?  
  
"Ryooga!"  
  
Imaginary Akane: He truly has? How wonderful! Now we can be together forever!  
  
I-Akane and I-Ryooga together: True love shall triumph over all!  
  
"RYOOGA!"  
  
Popping back out of his daydream, Ryooga glared at Ranma. "What?!?"  
  
"Stew's boiling over."  
  
Ryooga eeped and removed the pot from the fire, carefully not burning himself on either the pot or the slopping-over stew. "Why didn't you tell me earlier!"  
  
Ranma just sighed.  
  
Ryooga dished out some of the stew into his spare bowl, and handed it and a spoon to Ranma.  
  
"Wait a minute, Ranma. You're still weak, right?"  
  
Ranma stared into his stew. "Dowanna talk about it." His hands were trembling with the effort of lifting the full bowl even now. It was shameful. He had been so strong once.. So long ago, and yet, only a day.  
  
Ryooga thought as he ate, noticing that Ranma wasn't eating in his typical eat-now-taste-later manner. The depressed-looking pigtailed martial artist had set his bowl on the stump next to him, and was slowly eating a spoonful at a time.  
  
Finished, Ryooga put down the pot. He looked over at Ranma. Somehow, from somewhere, he felt some sort of an obligation to the other boy.  
  
"Would you like to travel with me? I go plenty of places, and I could help you out if anything goes wrong."  
  
"I don't need someone to protect me." Growled Ranma, throwing his spoon and empty bowl at the other boy.  
  
Ryooga raised one eyebrow as the eating utensils bounced lightly off of the ground scarcely a foot away from Ranma..  
  
"I don't! I can take care of myself! I don't need ta travel with you, or with anyone! I'll be fine on my own!" Ranma shouted, folding his arms over his chest and glowering at the grass between his knees. Damn this weakness, he couldn't even express himself anymore. "I ain't gonna take any charity from anyone, you lousy-"  
  
"And how will you carry supplies?"  
  
Ranma stopped mid-rant, his mouth open, as he tried to come up with an answer.  
  
"And what about other thugs and toughs? Not to mention all the martial artists after your hide? They'll find you eventually, you know."  
  
Ranma closed his mouth.  
  
Ryooga pushed on. "AND you're still weak, too. I know you don't like it, man, but you'll have to travel with someone you can trust. That doesn't leave you a lot of options, y'know? Besides, with the way I get lost, it'll let you figure out ways to deal with the others for when they eventually catch up. And I can carry enough stuff, and-"  
  
"Fine. Fine. You win, Ryooga."  
  
Ryooga nodded.  
  
"Besides," continued Ranma, "'snot like there's anyone else around to go with." He gestured to the forest around them. "Where the hell are we, anyways?"  
  
"Ranma, would it hurt you to be just a little bit grateful when people do things for you?" Ryooga asked, ignoring the question.  
  
Ranma looked blandly at Ryooga. "Only if pops knows."  
  
Ryooga blinked. You know, he thought, the way he says that, makes it sound like it's true.  
  
He opted to change the subject. "So, how's your ankle feeling?"  
  
Ranma smirked and patted the limb in question. "Jus' fine. Should be good to go in a bit less than a week."  
  
Ryooga nodded, deliberately ignoring the wince of pain that Ranma had suppressed. "Great."  
  
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So. Two pals on the road. Pretty normal, right?  
  
::unable to keep a straight face, collapses in laughter::  
  
Aheh. riiight.  
  
Well, Ranma normally winds up in enough messes on his own. But when you combine his attraction for the bizarre and confusing, and Ryooga's ability to get lost.  
  
Boy, are THEY going to have some fun adventures.  
  
::begins to laugh evilly:: And they shall never escape! NYAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! 


	5. Chapter 4

What is Weakness? A Ranma ½ fanfiction by Selene Starblade  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Ranma ½. They belong to Takahashi-sama. And don't bother to sue me- I've got nothing to give you.  
  
Chapter 4: Lasting Impression  
  
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Ryooga got up and walked around the fire to his pack. The clouds were still around, and it was beginning to look like rain. He needed to get out his umbrella. Ranma, he acknowledged, would be fine with the rain- he'd still be human, and able to take care of himself to some degree. Ryooga, on the other hand, had to stay human both to provide for himself, and to be able to help Ranma.  
  
*scff scff*  
  
Ryooga stopped short. Turning, he looked past the fire at Ranma, who was looking off into the trees.  
  
..something wasn't right.  
  
Thoughtfully, he walked back around the fire about a half-circle.  
  
Ryooga frowned slightly, then looked past the fire at Ranma.  
  
Watching the other boy, he walked around the fire again.  
  
Went Ranma, scooting a little bit across the ground away from Ryooga, without looking. If Ryooga hadn't known better, he'd have thought that was intentional. He sweatdropped. "Why are you doing that?"  
  
Ranma blinked and looked over at Ryooga. "Doing what?"  
  
Ryooga STARED at Ranma.  
  
Ranma began to sweat a little. "What?" Man, he KNEW he shouldn't have taken up Ryooga on his offer. Any moment, it would be 'Die Ranma!' again, and this time he really WOULD.  
  
Ryooga shook his head. "Never mind." And finally got around to finishing the trip to his backpack.  
  
The Eternally Lost Aquatransspecies Martial Artist sighed as he rummaged through his pack. There was more up here than Ranma was letting on, but it was the other boy's business, so it was up to Ranma to tell him. He sure as hell couldn't figure it out himself.  
  
Eventually, Ryooga came up with a small set of linked plastic sleeves, like one would find in a wallet. Taking his umbrella as well, he carefully re- closed the pack, and then turned and walked a bit closer to the fire. Sitting down cross-legged, he proceeded to stare at the photos contained in the flimsy piece of protection.  
  
A few minutes passed in silence.  
  
"Yo, Ryooga, whatcha got there?"  
  
Ryooga looked across the fire at Ranma. "Pictures." He deadpanned. If Ranma wasn't ready to explain anything, he wasn't ready to either. Besides, this was private.  
  
There was a short pause. Ryooga stared at Ranma a bit more, then looked back at the photos. He wondered what his parents would think of his decisions in life recently. How many years had it-  
  
"Of what?" Asked Ranma, completely disrupting Ryooga's train of thoughts.  
  
"Family." Grunted Ryooga, turning his attention back to the photographs again. And there was his cousin Chou. He wondered how Manchuria was this time of year, and if his cousin was actually there right now or not. He'd have to look into it next time he was in Bavaria.  
  
"So why're ya lookin' at 'em?"  
  
Ryooga glared at Ranma. It was unexpectedly difficult to get introspective with someone sitting nearby asking stupid questions.  
  
"What?? It's a perfectly good question!"  
  
The glare intensified. Ryooga got the sneaking suspicion that this might be intentional.  
  
In a desperate attempt to stave off doom, Ranma simply managed to shove the other foot in his mouth.  
  
"I mean, you c'n see 'em every time ya go home, so what's the big deal?"  
  
  
  
Reflexively, on feeling the first drops of the very light drizzle, Ryooga opened his umbrella and used it to protect himself as he stood up. He stomped over to Ranma, who was unable to scoot out of the way fast enough.  
  
  
  
"Why don't I just go see them instead, you're asking?" Questioned Ryooga in a clipped, acid tone of voice. Ranma shrank back from the intensity of his traveling-companion's glare, far too aware that, at the moment, he couldn't defend himself from anything Ryooga could do to try and hurt him.  
  
  
  
Ranma gulped and nodded, with the feeling that something was about to happen that he might not like very much. Why did this stuff happen to him?  
  
  
  
This seemed to infuriate the lost boy, who loomed menacingly above his erstwhile companion. "How about, RANMA, because I can't FIND MY HOME?!? Did you ever think of THAT???"  
  
  
  
Ranma winced, seeming to shrink in on himself slightly. He had managed to forget it, hadn't he?  
  
"Or maybe," continued the angry martial artist, "because THEY can't find it any more than I can?!? Has it ever occurred to you that I might not GET home very often???"  
  
  
  
Ranma, shaking, shook his head in a feeble 'no'. Actually, it hadn't. Then again, he wasn't known for having thoughts of anything but an 'eat/sleep/fight' nature occur to him, so this was nothing special for Ranma.  
  
It has often been speculated as to exactly how much water and exactly what temperature is required to trigger a Juusenkyoo curse one way or the other. Some people go into specific detail on these things, and a number of different theories have been put forth. Percentage of body covered, percentage of body covered relative to temperature of water, water versus water-containing fluids, origin of water, etcetera, etcetera. Regardless of all of this, as the drizzle began to accelerate, it neared the point of triggering Ranma's curse.  
  
"Dammit, Ranma don't you GET it?!? I GET LOST! MY MOTHER GETS LOST! MY FATHER GETS LOST! BOTH OF MY AUNTS AND MY COUSIN GET LOST! THE ONLY REASON MY GRANDPARENTS DON'T IS THAT THEY'RE STUCK IN A REST HOME!!! NOT ONLY CAN'T ANY OF US FIND OUR HOUSE VERY OFTEN, BUT WE ALMOST NEVER SEE EACH OTHER!!! I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I SAW MY FATHER!!! OF COURSE I'M LOOKING AT THE DAMNED PHOTOGRAPHS, YOU EMPTY-HEADED, CROSSDRESSING, MORONIC, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY NITWIT!!!!"  
  
Taking a pause to breathe in great heaving gasps of air, Ryooga stared down at Ranma.  
  
The small redhead was curled up in a foetal ball, eyes wide open- and blank. Hyperventilating, she stared up at Ryooga. There was a somewhat glassy quality to her eyes.  
  
The ever-depressed wanderer blinked, failing to resume his tirade.  
  
Something was seriously wrong with this picture. Worry at the completely off-kilter response quickly overwhelmed his anger.  
  
He waved one hand over Ranma, noticing that her eyes failed to track the movement.  
  
".Ranma?"  
  
Ryooga bent down so he could wave his hand in front of Ranma's face, in hopes of getting her attention.  
  
Before he even got his free hand halfway out, he was treated to a nearly- inhuman shriek of terror from a distance of three feet. By the time he had finished trying to clutch his ears without dropping the umbrella, Ranma was no longer where she had just been laying. Looking around, the lost boy discovered the petite redhead hiding behind his massive pack, peering out from behind it at him with a single, large, terrified blue eye.  
  
Something here, Ryooga told himself, was not right. Something here was very, very not right.  
  
******  
  
Ryooga sat at the guttering remains of the fire, under his umbrella, and stared at his pack, behind which Ranma was still hiding. She had been there for hours now, almost totally hidden. Now and then, she would lean out from behind the large hiking backpack just enough to reassure herself that Ryooga was still where she thought he was.  
  
The lost boy wondered what was going on exactly, and couldn't quite figure it out. He knew that Ranma shouldn't be doing that, weak or not. Maybe avoiding an actual fight (though he suspected instinct would get the better of the brash martial artist, easily getting past his efforts), but not this hiding thing.  
  
Heck, even the Saotome Secret Technique didn't cover this.  
  
Ryooga glanced over and locked eyes with Ranma for an instant, before the small girl was hiding again.  
  
Ryooga huffed out a breath. This was getting ridiculous. (It also didn't make a lot of sense to him, but that was something he could withstand for a long time.) He had to find a way to get Ranma under the umbrella or at least under some trees too. With Ranma's current body size, she would be losing heat very quickly, especially in the cold rain.  
  
He couldn't very well have his traveling companion suffer from hypothermia, could he?  
  
But how to get to Ranma without scaring (currently) her?  
  
The wind abruptly changed direction.  
  
"Oh, ku-"  
  
******  
  
Ranma peered out at the camp again.  
  
Well, not actually Ranma, per se, but certainly her (his? Her at the time.) body.  
  
Ranma, as is made obvious by any sort of an analysis of his/her life, is generally under a LOT of stress. It has been demonstrated that enough stress will even kill a person outright, regardless of physical condition.  
  
******  
  
Let us examine the past day or two, shall we?  
  
First, Ranma loses his strength. It is obvious, on watching him fight, that this is something which he relies on. A lot.  
  
Then, any chance of a cure is stolen completely away when Happosai eats the chart.  
  
Furthermore, Happosai ridicules and embarasses the newly-weakened Ranma, all through this.  
  
Then, as if in demonstration of the newfound feebleness of Ranma, he (as a she) gets the shit beaten out of her.  
  
Furthermore, the beaters (or at least one of them) try to rape her.  
  
All, excepting the first, in one day.  
  
This is not a way to support a healthy mind.  
  
This is certainly not a way to support the mind of a confused teenager who not only has become twice as confused as most on who he/she is, but also regularly has to fight off people who, to put it nicely, are mostly raving lunatics who want him/her dead.  
  
And then there's the miscellaneous, random challenges.  
  
And the unwanted engagement with someone who has serious rage problems.  
  
And the unwanted engagement with a childhood best friend.  
  
And the romantic affections of two heterosexual siblings of differing gender.  
  
And a hypersexy, quasi-nymphomaniac amazon girl, accompanied by her blind, idiotic suitor and devious, manipulative, violent grandmother.  
  
And Genma. Can't forget the abusive, stupid, obsessed, self-centered, greedy martial artist.  
  
And.  
  
Well, the reader probably gets the idea.  
  
The result of this?  
  
Well, Ranma's mind has finally decided 'to hell with it'. It's taking a break. As a result of the excessive daily stress Ranma had to deal with, it takes surprisingly little to overload Ranma's poor brain. Whenever it gets to be too much to handle, Ranma's mind, like that of many other people, retreats, leaving basic instincts in place to fend for the body.  
  
Most of Ranma's basic instincts were replaced with guardedness and fear by the Cat-Fist training.  
  
We now return you to your regularly scheduled fanfiction.  
  
******  
  
Ranma peered out at the camp again.  
  
This time, there was no person there. That was good.  
  
There was no man there. That was even better.  
  
There was, however, a circle on a stick, and a small black animal.  
  
Putting this together, the remaining rudiments of Ranma's mind decided that it was safe, although the protector-person was gone.  
  
Carefully, constantly glancing around in case the man came back, Ranma stood up from behind the pack.  
  
The small black animal seemed to be having a bit of trouble trying to move the circle-on-a-stick.  
  
Quietly, Ranma crept over to the animal and the object. To her bemusement, she noticed that the way the object had fallen meant it was keeping rain from falling in a small area. This area, incidentally, did not include the animal.  
  
It took her a moment, with the active parts of her mind, to figure out that part of why she did not feel very good was due to the falling water.  
  
Almost hopefully, Ranma curled up, leaning into the object in such as a way as to stay out of the falling water without having to stay tense.  
  
The small black animal looked up at her and chuffed.  
  
On an impulse, she scooped it up in her arms and gently held it to her abdomen.  
  
******  
  
Ryooga-buta blinked.  
  
Well, he thought ruefully to himself, If I had known it was that simple, I would have done that ages ago.  
  
He wondered how Ranma was doing. She was slowly stopping shivering, which meant that she hadn't succumbed to hypothermia, but other than that he couldn't really be sure.  
  
Carefully, the small black pig craned his neck back slowly to try and see Ranma's face.  
  
Unfortunately, all he got was an eyeful of the underside of Ranma's breasts.  
  
Silk clings when wet.  
  
Ryooga-buta lowered his eyes quickly, staring at the edge of the umbrella again. That had definitely been a mistake. He started doing the times tables in his head in an attempt to stave off a nosebleed.  
  
His mistake was understandable, though. He was used to being held by Akane, who usually clutched him to her. ah. chest. That way, when he looked up, he only caught her face. In fact, he had sprained his neck a few times from looking up and away from Akane's. er. Those. so much.  
  
Apparently, Ranma, in whatever state of mind she was in, did things a little bit differently.  
  
Oh, well. He'd settle for knowing his friend wasn't suffering from hypothermia. He could worry about Ranma's mental health later.  
  
As he was drifting off to sleep, a spare thought wandered through Ryooga's head, seeming almost as lost as it's owner usually was.  
  
Friend? ..since when?  
  
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And that's the next chapter. Sorry about the delay on this and my other fics, folks, but my computer recently bit the dust, and I had to wait until I could get ahold of a new one before I could send this out.  
  
Oh, and sorry to all you people who are saying either "Make this Ran/Ryo!" or "Don't make this Ran/Ryo!", but I've already figured out that sort of thing where this fic is concerned.  
  
No, I'm not going to tell you. You'll have to read it yourself.  
  
After all, as I like to say, it doesn't really matter what exactly a piece of literature is about, what makes it good or bad is how and how well it's written.  
  
As a side note, I wrote the last few parts of this chapter all in a lump tonight, the ninth of January, 2003.  
  
Why?  
  
I had an. unfortunate night.  
  
Earlier this evening, I delayed leaving where I'd spent the day for about half a minute so I could borrow an umbrella- it's raining here in San Fran.  
  
On my way home I was half a minute too late to be involved in a fatal altercation with another pedestrian and three large cars.  
  
As if that weren't bad enough, I then returned home to the assertion of my father that I am squandering my life, and confirmation of that from the outside world, as well as the discovery that something I was trying to do to get my life in line backfired horrendously.  
  
So, I'm not sure whether I was lucky to try to borrow an umbrella or not.  
  
Not that I could do diddly squat about it now, anyways.  
  
Guess I'll just keep plugging along at it, ne?  
  
Ever quiet,  
Selene Starblade, January 9, 2003  
  
**************** Author Notes, October 26, 2003.  
  
Looking back on my notes from when I wrote this chapter, after editing it some, I'm not sure what to think. I left the notes there, because they are an artifact of real life, and a memory- one that I would not like to soon forget.  
  
All too often, we take luck for granted in life.  
  
Or, at least, most people seem to. I can't say for sure.  
  
I do know that I don't. Largely because my own luck seems to go at extremes- either everything is going completely my way, or everything is going awful.  
  
C'est la vie.  
  
What is, is, and it is better to recognise that and change, work around, or cope with it, than it is to try and ignore it.  
  
With that in mind, I shall continue my work on my fanfictions- all of them. Don't expect new chapters in any particular one very often, but expect continuous progress. I'll be damned if I'll leave anything unfinished. That's the most irritating thing about fanfiction, to me. That so many people spend so long on one fic or another, and then leave off partway through, thereby wasting the effort, destroying the storyline, and basically damaging the 'fic itself.  
  
Ah, well.  
  
So, keeping on keeping on,  
Selene Starblade, October 26, 2003 


End file.
